Hey Anthony, Since school is almost out for the summer, or maybe it is out where you are...it brought to mind a big thanks and something for you to read. I was recently reading a local Orange County “free newsrack” newspaper and it told of a San Clemente High School Auto Academy. A long time ago, all four high schools in the largest school district in So Cal had an Automotives class and an automotive lab class to work on projects for older students. Over the years, they have all been closed for various reasons and now, the only one left is a comprehensive class located at one high school, the oldest one in San Clemente. The district, CUSD, has grown to 7 high school campus locations. The San Clemente HS campus draws from all other campus students interested in an automotive background while going to school. Jnaki It is unfortunate that this closure is what is going on all over So Cal. So, programs like these get much needed support from the local industry and donors. They need to stay alive for many reasons. Thanks for all of the things you get those students involved in, even with their teenage ideas and "quirkiness." https://www.sctritons.com/auto
Thanks. We just had our local community college try to close a lot of shop classes. A lot of us expressed concerns. Even our local politicians got involved. The school announced they would keep the programs this week. I try to promote my class a much as possible. Hopefully we can have an open house next year to show off what we do.
Retired Auto Shop Teacher here. This is an ongoing battle across the country. The problem has many contributing factors: Probably # 1 is that everybody thinks that in order to be a success, their children have to have 4 year or more college degree. But the truth is that 80% of the jobs available today do not require a 4 year degree. Another thing is that most of the junior high general shop classes have been gone for a long while. This also happened in the 'real' high schools. This really cuts the legs out from under Vocational Education. So, now when guys like Anthony get a class of students that are supposed to be training for a specific career as an 'Automotive Technician' they come in not knowing which end of a wrench to pound with. Of course, the state Boards of Ed expect that they will come out as ASE certified Master Techs. And that does not allow enough time to teach the basics. Cost is another factor. You can put a lot more kids in a Mandarin Chinese class for a lot less money than a few bozos that want to work with their hands. (Don't even try to reason that the skill level to repair a modern car requires a much higher level of understanding than most of the people in charge could ever obtain) To be honest, the cars themselves are just not as much fun to work on as the old stuff. There are guys that really get into computerized everything and Safety, Emissions, and Fuel Economy, but you won't find too many on the H.A.M.B. Put that all together and you can see what an uphill battle the Shop Teachers of today face. And we didn't even talk about ADD or ADHD and helicopter moms and participation trophies.
part of the shortage is how techs are paid at dealerships would be nice if they would realize they are part of the problem
teams, sliding scales........... warranty work pays less they will cut time by 25% of more on warranty issues they will replace you with your helper for less money once you have trained them I can send you a PM on an article that covers this I don't want to see this thread change into gripe thread a lot of us have been positively influenced by shop teachers I probably said to much already
Thank you. Sounds like it can be a cut throat environment to work in. That's a shame. Good people probably leave.
I agree, but we had administrators that took that to a whole other level. They wanted us to teach those high tech cars without working on cars. WTF
I was teaching auto shop in the county in the early eighties and Larry still used that damn pincher to get your attention.
When I was in school there were still a few of the old battle axe type females as regular teachers even in grade school, the shop and gym teachers were largely war veterans WWII and Korea, but the new wave of educators trained in the mold of "Institute for Social Research" and all that rot were rapidly taking hold as the old guard retired. I can only imagine how messed up it is today. Well I don't have to imagine, just turn on the news. We had a huge shop floor in High School with rows of Bridgeport lathes, and dozens of big end mills and all that stuff, welding booths, a small foundry, the whole nine yards. That stuff is all gone now. Very sad.
I used to do that demo until one genius went to the welding shop and tried to fill a metal box he was practicing on, then weld it shut. Only thing that saved him was his non existent weld quality. I never did it again!
When I started teaching in '75 we had 13 or 14 Auto Shops in the county. Now there are 4 and all of them along with 2 Body Shops are part of the Auto Trades Foundation, a group of interested dealers, lawyers, and accountants and school personnel who act as an advisory board. The shops take in donated cars and refurbish them for resale 4 times a year. When they first started the ATF we hated them because they siphoned off our best students. It was good for the students, though, because they got to spend a few days at a time 3 or 4 times a year working in a dealership with a technician checking reality against the dream. Then a lawyer from one of the dealerships jumped up and hollered 'liability' and the students are allowed to shadow a tech for a day or two once a year. If I remember right they have to be 18 now. This is also a county where the parents would rather have their kid making 40K a year with a B.S. hanging on the wall than double that as any kind of skilled technician. Other observations about shop classes, esp. auto. You are as far from everything else as possible and still be on campus. You get more than your fair share of knotheads and your main job is to take care of things and keep them out of admins hair. Do that and nobody comes around. I did it for 27 years and had a good time doing it. Still see a few of them. At car shows sometimes someone comes up to me and says "Did you used to teach at ........ . Do you remember me?" Sure, you're 20+ years older, 50 lbs. heavier and have less hair than I do (LOL), then they tell me who they are or what they drove and we have a nice chat. As much as I enjoyed H.S., I am now in a community college and its died and gone to heaven.
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